BAIC-owned Arcfox the next Chinese brand soon in South Africa
Founded in 2017, the dedicated new energy vehicle brand has already started its first product for the local market, identified as the T1.
Baic-owned Arcfox, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, is set to become South Africa's 23rd Chinese marque on the market following the discovery of its logos at Gauteng dealerships. The brand, named after the Mandarin 'jihu', meaning 'polar fox', was founded nine years ago and initially focused solely on electric vehicles. In 2017, Arcfox released its first model, the Lite, which was a city crossover-type coupe.
Arcfox has recently undergone a major restructuring and has since expanded its product range to include electric and range-extending electric powertrains. The brand is classified as a start-up similar to Stellantis-owned Leapmotor.
Arcfox's arrival in South Africa has gained traction after logos were spotted at a certified BAIC dealer in Johannesburg's Randburg area. Social media pages for Arcfox South Africa were found on X and Facebook, with the X page operational since June 19 and the Facebook page since June 17. Both pages have been sharing teaser images and videos of Arcfox's first model to hit South African roads, the T1, which made its market debut in China last year.
The T1 is a Volkswagen Polo-sized hatchback built at Arcfox's Zhenjiang plant and exclusively features an electric powertrain. The vehicle's design is influenced by Lancia Ypsilon and features a 33.4-kWh battery pack outputting 70kW/176Nm or a 42.3-kWh pack with 95kW of power. The T1 has a range of 320 km to 425 km, depending on the battery pack, and is available in six trim levels in China, with pricing starting at 62,800 yuan (R151,016) and reaching 130,800 yuan (R314,537).
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
